British science will suffer if the UK leaves the European Union, argue Nerea Irigoyen, a postdoc at the University of Cambridge and Eduardo Oliver, a postdoc at Imperial College London, in the Guardian.
Irigoyen and Oliver, who are both on the board of directors of the Society of Spanish Researchers in the UK, note that scientists from other parts of Europe move to the UK as it "offers a well-established, dynamic and flexible scientific career path." Further, they say that the UK attracts the highest number of university-educated migrants in the EU and that these migrants have contributed more than £20 billion to the British economy since 2000, according to a recent study.
They then argue that a so-called 'Brexit' would make it harder for researchers to come to the UK to work as well as make it more difficult for them to stay. At the same time, the UK institutions would lose out on European funds.
"It's time for the UK science community to speak up for all its members, to make it clear that British science is world leading due to its international researcher base, and to explain clearly that a Brexit ushers in the mood that will chase away talent in droves," Irigoyen and Oliver argue.